My last blog talked about the challenges of becoming an omnichannel retailer, and how stores are still learning how to make changes that cut across their entire business. We discussed how, appearances to the contrary, omnichannel selling is still about meeting a basic business requirement – finding the best outcome for you and your customer. However, finding these outcomes is a more complex proposition than it used to be.

Logically, to achieve consistent outcomes you need to achieve consistent consumer outreach, input, and sales approaches. But stores are also facing the demand to create a more personalized sales experience. How do you meet these seemingly contrary requirements? The key here is to find new ways to reach out to shoppers as part of the whole shopping experience, no matter what the channel.

For example, Cisco’s Remote Expert solution is a way to offer unique, personalized, yet centralized retail experiences for customers. It connects each shopper with a product expert wherever they are located, in real time, via mobile, immersive, or on-site channels. You save by leveraging your experts across single or multiple locations and devices using a pool of experts who may or may not be co-located, instead of providing expertise at every site or asking them to travel extensively. Retailers can also use the same solution to host training and corporate meetings, or to enable store feedback on products and merchandising. The result is a personalized shopping experience at a lower cost for the store.

Pretty sweet, don’t you think? To learn more, take the time to attend the webcast “Just Ask the Expert: Connect Your Shoppers to Virtual Experts, Anywhere, Any Time,” being held on Nov. 7. You can register here.

Truly omnichannel technologies are designed to support cost savings and efficiency, providing a more seamless interface for service that is customized for the shopper. As I said in my last blog, these approaches focus first and foremost on customer needs, making it easier to do business with your company. A customer-centric strategy cuts across the business and all its channels, creating a different kind of relationship between you and your shoppers. See what Retail Systems Research has to say in their latest report about omnichannel strategies.

I love retail trivia! Comment below if you know the answer to this question: What is the second-most visited retail business in America? (Wal-Mart is first.)

On November 5, retail financial services business leaders from around the world will gather at BAI Retail Delivery 2013, the financial services industry’s most comprehensive and relevant event of the year. Cisco in collaboration with Intel® will showcase our solutions portfolio that enables the Omnichannel delivery model and how it applies to various consumer banking experiences whether at home, in the branch, or on the road, to support seamless customer experiences and grow your business.

Booth Demonstrations

Today’s empowered financial services consumers expect a seamless experience. They want to engage with their bank when, where, and how they choose. While innovating to meet their demands, banks also must increase sales, grow profits, and reduce operating costs. Cisco executives will be at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference to demonstrate our Omnichannel sales enablement solutions that will help you:

Our demonstrations will show how Cisco can enable retail banks to be more intimate and responsive to their clients’ needs; driving increased client satisfaction and wallet share through seamless customer experiences, while at the same time enable business growth. Read More »

Our latest episode is out! This one is all about the Contact Center and we spent a lot more time showing examples of Social Media integration. Everyone agrees that ‘the internets’ are a huge watering hole of opinions and valuable business data…but its overwhelming when trying to figure out just how you might leverage it. Now you can integrate all that goodness with the maturity of business relevant call center and all the process that implies.

Jimmy Ray shares his personal experience volunteering to work in an actual (non-Cisco) call center all night long to gain better experience for how we developed this show. Check out his blog for more details on this.

This show featured Packaged CCE (Contact Center Enterprise), Feature Rich Reporting, Finesse Agent, Social Miner and even a few field trips to see what Cisco is doing with their ‘Social Media Listening Center’ and a very cool mobile application we internally refer to as ‘Roadside Demo’ that will open your mind as to how mobile devices SHOULD be part of your Contact Center Strategy.

Your smart sprinkler system is happily pumping water to your lawn in highly efficient sprays that are “aware” of the soil, the climate, the weather, the time of day, and even whether or not your kids are playing in the backyard on a Saturday. Suddenly, a faulty valve bursts and an uncontrolled geyser erupts. One part of your property is about to be ruined by flooding while the rest of the lawn is left to yellow in the sun.

You and your family are miles away, yet you know all about it. Sensors throughout the system alert your smartphone. At the same time, machine-to-machine signals shut down the pumps, and an expert from the sprinkler company is dispatched to your home with the precise replacement part and the real-time knowledge to fix the system.

It’s a great example of how the Internet of Everything (IoE) may soon funnel precise information in real time to the people — or machines — that need it most. Many of these “remote expert” technologies are either already here or on the horizon.

In part two of this three-part series detailing the “Evolution of Immersive Video in the Retail Bank Branch,” I looked at Cisco’s Remote Expert Solution more in-depth and discussed how the solution’s contact center enables virtual face-to-face meetings with high-definition video. By offering customers instant access to knowledgeable experts, even when customers are in remote areas, banks can provide personal service resulting in improved customer confidence in the relationship and greater loyalty. Now that we understand how the solution works, I’d like to take a deeper look at the solution in action and discuss how Remote Expert can meet customer needs in three key business areas.

Wealth Management Services

Remote Expert’s video sharing capability allows investment advisors to visually see the customers they are pitching new products and services to and helps them to gauge how to lead the conversation. In some cases, portfolios may be complex, especially when involving trusts, so video adds an additional medium in which to connect with the customer and explain the approach being presented by the wealth advisors. This is something that cannot be accomplished easily over the phone and traditionally has involved air travel to meet the customer in person. For ultra-high-net worth customers (> $2 MM), Remote Expert also provides a way for multiple advisors to join the conversation remotely to guide the client through the estate planning or wealth planning discussion.

Mortgage Sales

Today, there are many mortgage programs and products available. In addition, many state and federal regulations exist as it relates to quoting and working with customers on mortgage programs. Video has been shown to be an effective way to drive additional understanding of those various mortgage products and a way to work with the customer through the pre-approval process and up to the point of underwriting. We are finding that banks are still opting for the traditional in-person closing process, but more and more institutions are experimenting with completing the entire mortgage process using Remote Expert and the available video capabilities it provides. Read More »

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